Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-06)

interiorview,creatinga subgenreof

theirveryown.

If westarttothinkofthewindowas

oursubjectinthisway,it opensup

possibilitiesforinteriorandstilllife

setups.Perhapsyoumightwantto

includethewindowframeorpartofit,

stillgivingprominencetothescene

outside.Thenextstepis thefuzzy

boundarybetweeninteriorandstilllife

painting,asweexpandourframeto

includepartoftheroomsurrounding

thewindow.Unlikelandscapes,you

havecontrolovertheinterioraspect

ofthecomposition,soyoumaywant

toarrangepropsorsubjectsthat

harmonisewiththesceneoutside.

Returningtotheever-changing

natureofwindowviews,don’tfeel

restrictedtopaintinginthemiddleof

theday.Muchvarietycancomefrom

dawnordusk,differentweather

conditions,orevenworkingatnight.I

madeanink-and-washdrawingfroma

windowatnightthatprovidedan

interestingchallengeintonaldrawing.

Asa subject,theviewfroma window

canberevisitedrepeatedlytoo.We

canlookstraightthroughit ortreatit

asa keypartofaninterior,andwe

canexploretheviewatdifferenttimes.

I hopethishasgivenyousome

ideastoconsiderwhileyougazeout

ofyourwindowathome.I’dliketoend

witha fewtipsandtricksthatI’ve

pickeduptohelpyoualongtheway:

• If youaretacklinga largerscene,
  it is a goodideatofirstidentifythe

biggest object and place it in your

picture. This can help you judge the

scale of all other elements against

that, and also means your picture is

less likely to spill off the page.

• Rough out the contents of the
  rest of the scene early on. Even if you
  justdrawlooserectanglesfor
  buildingsandblobsfortrees,youcan
  quicklyarrangesubjectsina busy
  scene.Thatsaid,don’tbeafraidto
  adjustthemasthepictureprogresses.


• Savethedetailsuntillast.Adding
  themis alwaysa temptationwhenour
  eyesfocusonsomethingandwe
  struggletopullaway.Keepthinking
  “bigtosmall”– startwithlarger
  elementsandprogresstothe
  smallerones.


• Likewise,it canalsohelptowork
  neartofar– thinkofit asif youare
  drawingintothepage.Subjects
  closesttoyouwillobscurepartsof
  moredistantones,soobserving
  theseoverlapscanadda greater
  senseofdepth.
  http://www.lancelotrichardson.com

ABOVE Adolph
Menzel, View
from a Window in
Marienstrasse,
1867, gouache and
chalk on paper,
23x29.5cm

TOP RIGHT Lancelot

Richardson,

Cloudscape Study,

watercolour on

paper, 21 x14.8cm

KUNST MUSEUM WINTERTHUR, OSKAR REINHART FOUNDATION